Patriot's Day

As I was walking to class, I saw this garden of flags in the grass in front of Low Library. There was no sign or notice, just the flags left to speak for themselves. I saw many students stop to take a photograph. I wondered about their stories, if they had one. 

It was on my fourth trip through this area that I took my own picture. Like many of us, I remember what I was doing this day 12 years ago. Where I was, what I heard, what I saw. I shared this image with my father and older brother. My dad worked in Ground Zero for several months shortly after. He would return home dirty and silent. My older brother enlisted in the Army when he could. He returned home from his first tour just a few weeks ago. He, too, returned dirtied and silent.

Today is about remembering and honoring the lives lost, but it's also a day about respecting the lives affected. I once read that strength is not the absence of fear; rather, it's the acknowledgement of fear but still taking a step forward. It's understanding that each and every one of us, no matter how small or old, can make a genuine difference. Remembering that we have a voice.

Mill argues that ideas of morality, ethics, and even the definition of liberty change with time and location. Has the definition of liberty changed since Mill's time? since the Declaration of Independence? Does liberty have a particular definition in our increasingly individually-focused society?